U.S. graduate schools experienced an 11 percent increase in applications from abroad this year, according to a survey conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools.
This upsurge followed a several-year period of waning application rates resulting from the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and ensuing global political fallout.
The study, which the Council of Graduate Schools released on Mar. 23, included responses from almost 150 of the 450 of the organization's member schools. The 11 percent spike followed a cumulative loss of 32 percent since 2002.
The post-Sept. 11 dip only partially affected Tufts, where some graduate schools saw the volume of foreign applications remain the same, while others felt the impact of decreasing foreign interest.
Numbers from Tufts' Graduate School of Arts and Sciences remained fairly static, while the Sackler School of Nutrition and Biomedical Sciences experienced a dip after 2002 and a subsequent rise to almost pre-Sept. 11 levels.
The Fletcher School was unavailable for comment by press time.
Application rates decreased largely because of U.S. government efforts to curtail and monitor immigration after the attack, according to Stuart Heiser, Manager of Government Relations and Public Affairs for the Council of Graduate Schools.
"The decline was based on a couple things," Heiser said. "First, after 9/11, the State Department tightened visa regulations. There also emerged a perception around the world that foreign students aren't welcome."
Since then, graduate schools have fought to reverse the trend, with tentative success in 2006, by facilitating online application processes and dispatching recruiters to attract the attention of foreign students, Heiser said.
Heiser praised the State Department's effort to strike a balance between protecting its citizens and attracting foreign students. "The State Department has greatly improved the processing of visas without sacrificing security," he said.
Alida Poirier, associate director of admissions for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said that she had expected Sept. 11 to adversely influence application rates, but no correlation emerged. "I kind of expected a big dip after 9/11 but didn't see it," she said.
Due to the broad nature of its course offerings, Arts and Sciences may do a better job of maintaining its appeal than more specifically oriented programs, Poirier said.
"I think it's just the nature of the school," she said. "Because this is 27 different fields of study, I think foreign students are attracted to the sciences."
One school with a more restricted focus, the Sackler School, did suffer a drop in applicants after the attacks.
Foreign applications plummeted from 357 in 2001 to 250 in 2002, a 43 percent drop, before rising again in 2003.
Christopher Tatro, registrar and associate director of admissions at Sackler, points to the "uncertain global climate after 9/11" as the main cause, adding that a drop in foreign interest often occurs after internationally disruptive events.
"Whenever there's any kind of large-scale global uncertainty, it puts out a bit of a chilling factor," Tatro said.
Sackler does not recruit students, so the admissions department had little influence on the recent increase, Tatro said. "It's been mostly students coming back on their own," he said.
